Pond Muck Reduction And Restoration

hi everybody mark here from pond algae solutions.com and in this week's pond tip I want to discuss an ongoing issue that many pond owners have with their ponds it doesn't matter the size so much it affects both small and large ponds you know ponds just by the way that they're built are a catch-all for all kinds of debris and this includes leaves and grass clippings and blow ends you name it a material that's organic in nature an inorganic can get blown into these ponds and they end up accumulating at the bottom well when this gets heavy enough and over time and usually this is a period of years you start to see this organic material begin to break down and rot and for no better word it becomes like compost just like compost in your garden and this muck and sludge buildup can lead to a variety of different problems and and nuisance issues and some are minor and some can be quite major if conditions are right for it for example let's take large ponds primarily in this in this issue large ponds that are very stagnant and have a lot of muck build-up will inevitably always have an algae problem at some point also if you have fish there's a huge risk with very stagnant water heavy muck build up really poor water quality a lot of that stuff gets kind of stuck down at the bottom but if a high wind comes along or a heavy rain can come along where it's real hot during the day for example in the summer and the pond can literally invert or flip over and when it does the whole pond will turn black the oxygen is is pulled out of the water rapidly and it's quite amazing if any fish survives that's in there and so muck is a primary reason why that's happening trapped within that muck it's a lot of on one dangerous gases methane and things like that and it's good if it stays trapped but if it's ever you know agitated and released then you've got some major problems small pots can run into a variety of water quality problems too and although fish are a major factor I think in a lot of issues with small ponds either they're under filtered or you know there's too many fish in a pond there's no question that organic accumulation at the bottom that's stuck in the rocks and you know muck that builds up from a pond that's not cleaned very frequently can often lead to water quality problems and this includes green water it includes high nutrients of all kinds it includes string algae and so these are problems that most people really don't want to go through so you know the topic of this month and this this pond tip is really for people to focus on looking at their pond evaluating it if it has any age or if it hasn't been cleaned in a while there's a chance that muck could develop some ponds that are surrounded by trees or have a lot of leaf debris going into them they inevitably will have a problem as time goes on and so how do you deal with the problem well general pond bacteria is is fine if this a light issue but if you've got a big issue of a lot of muck at the bottom you can target that better we use something called our pond biotics me4 muck Eliminator pellets these are concentrated pellets very small but they're beneficial bacteria blends that are specifically formulated to target this muck and the components that make that up and to break it down and to in a sense eat it up and reduce it they sink down into the muck itself and begin to reduce it internally rather than inadvertently with what I would call a pond wide cleaning bacteria the other thing that you really want to look at is aeration and this has been a summer where I probably talked about aeration more than any other I usually do every summer but this year has been so hot so stifling that we've talked about aeration at length and I'll continue to do so as it is very beneficial you want to guard against stagnation you have to guard against stagnation in any kind of pond and in order to do that aeration is the number one tool small ponds can be cleaned frequently and you can keep this muck off the bottom with like a pond vacuum for example but large ponds would never allow that you have really two choices you can dredge it out which is very expensive or you can try to put in systems that will help inhibit it or reduce it and restore the pond to better shape aeration and targeted muck eliminating bacteria usually in the form of pellets is what I would recommend and suggest and normally when you apply these pellets if it's a light degree of muck maybe once a year is enough once or twice a year if it's heavier you may need to apply it a handful of times a year and if it's really heavy you might want to apply it for a period of time monthly for maybe a season or so it's a work in progress if it's developed over many years it will take some time to reduce it and you shouldn't expect quick fixes but the lighter this mutt gets the less of it you have the healthier your pond will get the cleaner often times your pond will get on the surface as well as at the bottom and your water quality will improve greatly so one of the key things that I always want to remind pond owners is if you suspect that muck is involved do whatever you can to work it down and eliminate it effectively efficiently as possible and as safely as possible and when you do that you're going to make great headway so I hope you find that helpful if you have any questions please let us know at pond algae solutions comm we're happy to help and I hope you have a great day where you

Channel: klmgroupia

Views: 118,820

Rating: 4.6450214 out of 5

Keywords: Enzymes, Biosphere, pond, sludge, ae, muck, String Algae, algae, Algae Control, Beneficial Bacteria, Pond Algae, Algae Off, Barley Straw

Id: bBKUAA8jxS4

Length: 6min 27sec (387 seconds)

Published: Mon Aug 22 2011